


The Idea of You

by FabulousWhales



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Crushes, F/M, Fluff, I'm rusty ok?, Juvia is a shy girl, Love, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Romance, Slow To Update, Tags Are Hard, lots of feelings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-10
Updated: 2019-06-26
Packaged: 2020-01-10 18:40:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18413651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FabulousWhales/pseuds/FabulousWhales
Summary: Juvia Lockser is a normal shy student in Magnolia's top college, Fairy Tail.  She's been seen as gloomy and dark for almost her whole life, but it doesn't change that she's always been a hopeless romantic deep down. A serious hopeless romantic.Juvia has now given her heart to the cute barista at the local cafe, Gray, but the only problem is that her idea of him is maybe, slightly, a whole lot different from the real deal.Her biggest obstacle is whether or not she can keep her head out of the clouds long enough to see Gray for how he truly is, and figure out if she likes reality more than her fantasies.





	1. Fantasies with a Dash of Imagination

**Author's Note:**

> There's mild cussing but that's about as heavy as it gets ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

“He’s gorgeous, isn’t he?” Juvia swoons, her blue hair lightly curls at the ends, resting over her shoulders.

“Who?” Lisanna raises her eyebrows, a confused look crossing her features.

“Gray.” Juvia smiles adoringly, “I mean look at him, he’s amazing.”

The cafe they’re sitting in is bustling, the object of Juvia’s affections, Gray, works behind the counter and at times you could hear him laugh loudly with his friends seated at a nearby table.

Lisanna shrugs and turns back to her school notes spread out in front of her at their table. “I mean, I guess he’s pretty cool?” she begins to flip through her studies folder.

“Lisanna, he’s so much more than cool! He’s--”

Cana approaches the table with a drink in her hand, “He’s so hot, a total dreamboat, he gets my pa--” She mimics

“OKAY! I GET IT. I'LL STOP!!” Juvia screeches, face beginning to resemble a tomato.

The brunette smirks, “Great, now let’s do something that doesn’t involve ogling Gray.”

The three women begin to go over their class notes. They are preparing for an upcoming test, and find the natural atmosphere calming, and great white noise for their brainstorming sessions.

Juvia stretches, sighs when she hears the faintest pops in her muscles. “Lisanna, could you do me the biggest favor and order me a green tea? Please?” Her eyes flick toward the counter.

“Oh, yeah, sure.” Lisanna moves to get up, but she is blocked by Cana

“Oh no you don’t!” Cana latches a hand to the girl’s wrist, “Juvia, if you want it so bad you order it.”

“I u-uhm” Juvia gulps, and her gaze flicks toward the counter. Gray is tending to other customers, but the line is fairly short.

“Cana, it’s honestly not that big a de-”

Lisanna is interrupted once more

“No way Liz, if she’s gonna ogle him like this, the least she could do is have a basic conversation with ‘em.”

“I- I am not! Ogling!” Juvia gulps, “And, I can have a basic conversation too! Whenever, wherever!”

“Oh yeah?” Cana smirks, “Ten bucks says you can’t” Her eyebrow dance across her forehead

“Oh, you are so on!” Juvia jumps up, a fire lit in her and walks toward the counter.

While she has the chance, she takes in the man she gushes over like a young schoolgirl. Gray is wearing a dark apron, a part of his work uniform, and a dark short-sleeved t-shirt. His hair is slightly disheveled, quite possibly from the work day, but he is still able to put on a smile that is able to take her breath away.

“Hi, what can I get for you?” His lips quirk up, politely

Her heart skips

“U-uh, an iced g-green tea, please.”

He inputs the order into the system in front of him, “Alright, and will that be all for you?”

“Y-yes!” Juvia smiles nervously. This whole conversation thing felt like such a big step.

“Your total is $2.30, and your name for the order?”

She held her wallet in her hand and quickly fished the money out, she begins to hand it to him as she answers his question. “J-Juv--” Their hands briefly touch. Her heart skips two more beats, and her mind goes blank.

Gray is putting the money into the register, and beginning to type the name, “Juv?”

“Uh y-yes!” It was too late. She already messed up, was there a point in making sure the name was right? The conversation itself already had her heart tripping over itself.

“Alright I’ll call you when it’s ready”

Juvia quickly walks back to her table, and feigns a victorious smile, if only to protect her ego from her dearest of friends.

Cana’s eyebrows are raised, but she gives Juvia an approving smile. “Not bad.” she remarks, pulling out a ten to give to her friend.

“Told you I could do it!” Juvia is tooting her own horn at this point. The satisfaction of proving her cockiest friend wrong making her overly smug.

But alas, all good things must come to an end.

“Juv! Your order is ready!” Gray calls from the counter

Juvia almost jumps out of her skin. He may not have said her name, but he said part of it and she swears her heart will stop at this rate. She turns toward the counter and smiles. She’s not sure if he can see her, but why stop now?

“Juv? Is that you?” Lisanna looks from the counter back to the girl in question

“Pft-!” Cana laughs, “Did you not pronounce it right?”

“I panicked!! Okay?” Juvia sputters flustered

She walks to the counter and grabs her drink.

Gray sends her a polite, “Enjoy your drink”

And she’s not sure if it’s the eye contact or the whole situation that makes her mind shut-off once more and her mouth go on auto-pilot, just for her to say “Thank you, you too--” but it’s too late. The words have left her mouth and have been heard.

Gray smiles, but Juvia is too flustered to try to decode whether or not it’s a pity smile or just a regular smile. She facepalms herself and walks back to the table.

“Did something else happen?” Lisanna carefully prods

“I said...” she turns away from her friends in embarrassment, “‘Thank you, you too’ when he said ‘enjoy your drink.’”

“AhA!”

“Cana, stop laughing!” Lisanna slaps her friend’s arm lightly, “Don’t worry Juvia, it happens to all of us.”

Cana wipes at her eyes as she tries to refill her lungs with air, “Yeah, Juv. It’s alright”

“Cana!!” Lisanna tries to send her the angriest face, the small girl can muster

“What? It can be a cute nickname!” Cana explains, “It is now, your cute nickname!”

Lisanna sighs in defeat, “Alright, it is cute.” She turns towards Juvia and smiles, “See Juvia? It’s not too hard to turn a negative into a positive.”

“Yeah” Juvia sends a similar smile toward her friends and takes her seat,

“Now let’s kick this homework’s ass!” Cana pumps

“Yeah!” Lisanna and Juvia try to match her spirit

~.~.~.~

The sun is setting, and the wind is lightly blowing. The sounds of dancing leaves and the chatter of the girls walking back to their dorm fills the air.

“So, what’s the deal with you and Gray?” Cana quips

Juvia turns toward her friend, “Well, there isn’t really a deal, or even a ‘me and him’” she airquotes the latter half.

“I mean, why’re you so into him? He’s a dork.”

“Gray is not a dork!” Juvia defends, “He’s cool, and handsome, and he has this really cool dark and mysterious vibe, and...”

Cana and Lisanna stare at Juvia in confusion, their looks would have made Juvia believe that in her loving rant she began to speak another language.

“...what?”

“I’m not sure who you’re talking about because Gray is a whole ass nerd through and through” Cana chuckles as she stares in the distance, a look of nostalgia crossing her face.

“Cana’s right” Lisanna agrees, “I can see cool and handsome, but I’m not sure where dark and mysterious is coming from.”

“Yeah, that sounds more like Rogue.” Cana adds

“Definitely. Maybe you’re thinking of him?” Lisanna looks toward Juvia

“No way!!” Juvia vehemently denies, “Gray has a bad reputation! He’s always fighting--”

“With Natsu” Cana adds

“And pulling pranks!”

“Also, with Natsu.” Lisanna includes

“And he’s so dangerous and wild that girls don’t go around him!” Juvia asserts

“I mean, we do…” Lisanna looks towards Cana

“Yeah, but you guys are his childhood friends. No one else does!” Juvia gives a small victorious smile.

“Well, Lucy hangs around him” Cana adds

“Lucy? Who’s Lucy?” Juvia is slightly quieter than before

“You know, blonde girl that’s always hanging around Natsu and Gray”

Juvia could somewhat remember someone of such a faint description. Blonde hair, brown eyes, very smiley, but Juvia didn’t know her personally.

“Isn’t she a childhood friend too?” She felt like she was grasping for straws, but she didn’t understand what for.

“Nope. Lucy transferred last year, I think...” Lisanna takes a moment to recount events in her head, “but in just that one year, she became one of Natsu and Gray’s closest friends and they’ve been joined at the hip since.”

“Natsu swears that they’re apart of his group though, what did he call it again?” Cana wonders aloud

“Team Natsu” Lisanna giggles

“Haha! Yeah, that dork.”

Juvia is on the defensive, and she’s not entirely sure why. She’s so bothered that she doesn’t even think to revise her words before they come spilling out.

“Well, there’s no way a cool and mysterious guy like Gray would like a straight-laced goodie two shoes like her!” She upturned her nose, feeling unnaturally haughty in this moment.

“But a ‘cool and mysterious guy’ like Gray, a ‘bad boy’ if you will, would definitely give his whole heart to a shy, overly-polite, goodie two shoes like you though, right?” Cana muses sarcastically.

Juvia opens her mouth. Then closes out. She’s sure she resembles a fish at this point, but she stops herself. “W-well! I could have a chance!”

“Then Lucy could too, right?” Lisanna reasons

“I-I suppose...” Juvia is being defeated at this point

If Cana weren’t looking away from her friends, they’d see the smallest glint in her eyes, as an idea surges its way through. “Well, if you wanna be sure, then why don’t you beat her to it?”

“What…?” Juvia questions, puzzled

“If she’s so intimidating, then steal your ‘bad boy’ from right under her nose!” Cana begins to get louder, “That’ll show her!”

“I-uh...” Juvia is looking for a way out at this point.

“Fifty bucks says you can’t do it, and you’ll let Gray be the one that got away before you even had your foot in the door.”

Another fire is lit in her stomach, “Oh you are so on!” It’s not as if money is the only reason, but at least if she’s rejected, she’ll still get something out of it.

Juvia rushes ahead of her two friends and is almost running towards the dorms with her newfound energy.

“You and me both know that this is a wasted effort.” Lisanna watches as their blue-haired friend strides ahead with a seemingly different purpose

“Of course, but there’s nothing more fun than watching her all pumped up.” Cana smiles toward Juvia’s retreating frame. “Besides, if she likes him so much, then she’ll need to get past her imagination and meet the real deal.”

“You _are_ right about that...” Lisanna sighs through her nose, “I just hope she doesn’t get hurt”

Juvia turns behind herself to see her friends still lagging behind. She stops and waves towards them until they notice her.

“Come on, you guys! We have to hurry back to the dorm to make a plan!”

“Hell yeah!” Cana pumps a fist into the air and rushes towards Juvia, the sound of her heels clicking against the pavement filling the air

Lisanna smiles fondly, “What have I gotten myself into?” she begins to pick up her pace, in an effort to catch up with her friends without tiring herself out. “Wait up you guys!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was contemplating making the currency Jewel, until I searched it up and the conversion rate is basically the same as the Japanese Yen to the US Dollar. So, I just left it at US currency to make it a little bit easier to follow.
> 
> This story is also on Wattpad under the same name.


	2. Planning

Lisanna and Juvia are seated across from each other on the carpeted floor of their dormitory living space. A couch sits behind Juvia, a loveseat rests behind Lisanna, and a coffee table stands between them. Papers splay the surface, and Juvia’s legs lay underneath it.

Both girls are dressed for bed, but have decided to have a mini meeting session about their plans from earlier.

“So, first things first!” Juvia lightly claps her hands together, “The place!”

“It’s the coffee shop, right?” Lisanna smiles, but confusion is evident from the way her eyebrows come together.

“But is that okay?” Juvia ponders and looks toward the ceiling in thought, “It won’t exactly feel like a chance encounter…” She snaps her fingers and looks towards Lisanna, the figurative light bulb shining for all to see. “What about after one of his classes?”

“Gray doesn’t go to Fairy Tail anymore.” Cana joins the conversation, walking from the kitchenette a few feet away. She takes a sip from a water bottle, knowing she has an early morning and holds off on the liquor. 

The light bulb crumbles to dust as Juvia looks at the brunette for an explanation.

“Yeah, he dropped out… last semester..?” Lisanna follows up

Cana takes a seat on the couch behind Juvia. “You were out of town around that time.”

“Right…” Juvia recalls the time; the weather had been particularly gloomy. A long downpour. “I had a family thing at that time…” she mumbles.

“You can still talk to him at the coffee shop. It may not be the chance encounter you’re hoping for, but it’s where you’re most likely to see him.”

“Yeah…” Juvia nods slowly

“Okay, so you’ll order a tea or whatever and then ask him out. Boom! Instant relationship.” Cana takes a swig of her water and smiles as if she’s solved the most complicated puzzle.

Lisanna giggles

“Cana..” Juvia pouts “I don’t think I can do ‘instant relationship’, I get tongue-tied whenever I see him.” Juvia looks toward the swarm of papers on the table to avoid eye contact.

“Guess you’ll just have to untie that tongue, sister.” Cana chuckles

“It’s not that easy!” Juvia flushes, “my heart leaps into my throat, and my mind goes blank when he smiles and-” She puts her head in her hands and sighs, “I’m a mess around him…” 

Lisanna and Cana look to each other in knowing sympathy.

“Maybe we could do something where me and Cana are close by to give you some support?” Lisanna smiles

Cana snaps, “Like a group hangout!”

“Exactly! You won’t have to worry about being alone with Gray because we’ll be there with you!”

“And it’s a great chance for you to meet his friends too, more opportunities to hang out.” Cana adds. “We just gotta figure out a time and place.”

The three girls think in unison of how to wrap up their plans.

“Tomorrow might be too sudden…” Juvia speaks, “Maybe this Saturday?”

“Yeah, I think Saturday might work.” Lisanna responds, forking through her hair absent-mindedly. “We just have a test tomorrow, and I think Erza and Lucy are free this weekend.”

“And Natsu’s up for anything as long as it’s exciting” Cana takes a sip from her drink.

“A dessert shop?” Juvia perks with a smile,

“That’d be nice, but it runs the risk of Erza trying to buy out the whole store.” Lisanna stares at a wall and pouts as if she’s reliving a memory.” The girl claps her hands together signaling she has an idea. “How about the Dark Cauldron?”

 “Mira’s tavern?” Cana questions

“Yup!” Lisanna smiles in the brunette’s direction. “Think about it, it’s a big enough place, most of us have been there multiple times, and it has a little bit of everything for entertainment.”

Juvia has heard of the Dark Cauldron before from her roommates, but she’s never had the chance to actually visit, what with school and spending most of her time at her favorite cafe.

“That might work” Cana nods, “It’s a place for those two idiots to fight that energy out, a place for us to hang, and Mira will also be there…” She clenches her fist in victory and looks toward Juvia. “Well what do you think? This is your date after all.” The brunette smiles.

A date. Was that what this was? Was she ready to take this leap? It wasn’t her first date but she still didn’t want to screw it up, but with her friends there surely it would turn out okay.

“Since you guys think it’s the best option, I’m in” She smiles

“Awesome! We’re gonna have a great time!” Cana chugs the rest of her water.

Lisanna looks toward the clock in above the kitchenette and stands up. “But we’re _not_ gonna have a great morning if we don’t go to sleep soon to ace this test.”

“Got it, night ladies!” Cana hops up and walks toward her room. “This weekend’s gonna be great!”

Juvia laughs at her friend and the girls wish each other a good night before ending their day.

*~○●○●○●○●~*

With the test over with, it was time for Juvia to tackle another formidable problem-- asking Gray to hang out. 

Juvia wasn’t so shy she was completely unable to speak to people, she just also wasn’t the type to flirt with people who are busy--or anyone at all, especially with the way she failed the day before.

The girls enter the cafe, and Juvia takes a seat at a table near a window. Lisanna and Cana seemed to have other plans.

“Be right back Juvia!” Lisanna tells her friend as she walks away. She moves toward a table on the other side of the cafe, and Cana walks toward the register with only one customer ahead of her. 

 Juvia decides to look out the window and observe the sights to keep from feeling anxious and awkward. The streets of Magnolia were moderate; not too crowded and not too empty. The sun was sinking into the horizon and dyeing the sky meticulous shades of pink, yellow, and orange. The sky was beautiful, but she couldn’t help herself from silently wishing for a few gray clouds here and there, and to hear the soothing taps of rain hitting the windows of the cafe.

Rainy days in the cafe were her favorite. Even though there weren’t many people to watch outside, the atmosphere of the cafe felt much calmer and she felt more at peace. Though the sky was clear this day she feels the pull of the cafe and begins looking around her favorite area. 

There aren’t many patrons, but the music of the day seems to be calming pop. She spots her white haired friend speaking with a group at a table. They seem to be joking about something and Juvia watches a bright smile spread across her friend’s face. A little ways west of the table is the register where Cana is speaking to Gray. 

Juvia finally takes notice of the fact that her friends were probably inviting Gray and his group to their planned hang out. Cana smiles at Gray and looks in her direction. Gray follows her line of sight and locks eyes with Juvia and waves. Her heart leaps a few stories but she manages to wave back nervously.

“I’m back, Juvia!” Lisanna smiles behind her and unknowingly startles her friend. Juvia was so transfixed with Gray she hadn’t seen nor heard her friend come back to the table.

“Welcome back,” Juvia softly smiles, hoping to hide the sudden fear and keep from feeling her accelerated pulse. “But, where did you go?”

“I went to ask everyone over there if they wanted to hang out at Mira’s tavern.” Lisanna turns toward the table she was just at.

Juvia follows her friend’s line of sight and sees a group of people chatting and smiling. Colorful heads bob around. She looks toward Gray to see him smiling at the group and notices Cana approaching the table.

“Grays in!” Cana smirks.

“Erza and Natsu are in too, but Lucy said she already has plans.” Lisanna informs the other two girls.

Juvia feels a small glow of victory from the shared news.

“Alright, so we’ll meet them at the Dark Cauldron this Saturday, and then our plan is a go!” Cana grins and high fives Lisanna.

Juvia smiles, she can feel the excitement gradually bubbling through her. She can’t help but look towards Gray for just a moment. He isn’t too busy, but for just a second she swears their eyes meet one more time, before the heat in her cheeks make her look away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, I was busy with school and a bunch of other life things. This was more of a transitional chapter that took much longer than expected but I hope you enjoyed it! ^^


End file.
